In the wake of the global energy crisis, many European countries used energy price controls to fight inflation and to stabilize the economy. Despite its wide adoption, many economists remained skeptical. In this paper, we argue that price controls should be part of the policy toolbox to respond...

In 2005 the German government implemented the so-called Hartz IV reform, which amounted to a complete overhaul of the German unemployment insurance system and resulted in a significant reduction in unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed. In this paper, we use an incomplete-market...

Der demografische Wandel und die damit verbundene Alterung der Gesellschaft stellt das gesamte Wirtschaftssystem vor Herausforderungen, die eine Anpassung der wirtschaftlichen Rahmenbedingungen (Strukturreformen) notwendig machen. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat die Studie von Enderlein und...

This paper provides a quantitative evaluation of the macroeconomic, distributional, and fiscal effects of three reform proposals for Germany: i) a reduction in the social security tax in the low-wage sector, ii) a publicly financed expansion of full-day child care and full-day schooling, and...

We use data from the Survey of Consumer Finance and Survey of Income Program Participation to show that young households with children are under-insured against the risk that an adult member of the household dies. We develop a tractable macroeconomic model with human capital risk, age-dependent...

This paper provides a quantitative evaluation of the macroeconomic, distributional, and fiscal effects of three reform proposals for Germany: i) a reduction in the social security tax in the low-wage sector, ii) a publicly financed expansion of full-day child care and full-day schooling, and...

This paper uses annual data drawn from the GSOEP to estimate individual earnings risk (labor market risk) in Germany for the period 1983-2012. The econometric specification of the earnings process allows for transitory shocks and permanent shocks to individual earnings. We find that both the...

This paper develops a tractable human capital model with limited enforceability of contracts. The model economy is populated by a large number of long-lived, risk-averse households with homothetic preferences who can invest in risk-free physical capital and risky human capital. Households have...

[Die aktuelle Herausforderung] Die Corona-Krise ist eine menschliche Tragödie mit weitreichenden ökonomischen und sozialen Folgen. Es sind solche Zeiten der allgemeinen Verunsicherung, in denen staatliches Krisenmanagement notwendig ist. Insbesondere die staatliche Absicherung von Risiken...

Die wirtschaftlichen Folgen der Corona-Krise werden sich länger hinziehen. Ohne weitere staatliche Stützungsmaßnahmen besteht die Gefahr, dass die deutsche Wirtschaft dauerhaft Schaden nimmt und insbesondere am Arbeitsmarkt Hysterese-Effekte auftauchen und sich Arbeitslosigkeit verfestigt....